Fot those of you who do not have HID lights, I expect you can't go wrong fitting these into your head lamps........

 

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=115

And these for your main beams.....

 

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=114

have heard good things about these , will be testing soon

How these companies can claim their bulbs provide "90% more light output" from a bulb which carries a rating identical to a stock 55W halogen bulb is beyond me ... Light output is related to the "lumens" rating which, for a halogen/xenon hybrid bulb (which this effectively is) will only ever be slightly higher than a pure halogen bulb.

 

Another common "misleading" advertising angle for HID bulbs is that the produce "300% more light" than a stock halogen bulb. Wrong! The light is about 300% BRIGHTER than a stock halogen bulb but in actual fact the HID bulb will only put out about 35% more light than a 55W stock halogen bulb. However, because the light is much whiter (Xenon gas burns white compared to halogen gas which burns orange/yellow) it give the appearance that the bulbs are brighter. Light which carries a higher colour temperature (ie around 6000K for HID bulbs vs ~2500K for halogen bulbs) will reflect better off reflective surfaces such as road signs and road markings. That will give the appearance that the bulb is much brighter.

 

Anyway - Philips produced the same type of bulbs as Orsam is now advertising and was made to amend its advertising to reflect the true difference between their bulbs and normal halogen bulbs.

 

I will be ordering a pair of the Osram bulbs to do a factual comparison between a standard 55W halogen bulb, our Xtreme White 55W halogen/xenon bulbs and our 35W 6000K HID kits. I bet I know what the answer is going to be ...

 

Furthermore, no matter how bright a bulb you put into your Zed, if your headlights and projector lens are dirty on the inside you will never put out more light on the road ...

 

Just my 2P worth and all IMHO.

 

Dan

How these companies can claim their bulbs provide "90% more light output" from a bulb which carries a rating identical to a stock 55W halogen bulb is beyond me ... Light output is related to the "lumens" rating which, for a halogen/xenon hybrid bulb (which this effectively is) will only ever be slightly higher than a pure halogen bulb..........

 

................................I will be ordering a pair of the Osram bulbs to do a factual comparison between a standard 55W halogen bulb, our Xtreme White 55W halogen/xenon bulbs and our 35W 6000K HID kits. I bet I know what the answer is going to be ........

 

.......Furthermore, no matter how bright a bulb you put into your Zed, if your headlights and projector lens are dirty on the inside you will never put out more light on the road .........

 

Dan

 

I agree with most of this too - I fail to see that another 55w halogen bulb can give out almost double the light of another bulb of the same spec. Reading between the lines of Auto Car's testing, I think it is more down to the spread of the beam pattern, simply illuminating more of the road ahead.

 

I guess that's why they say ".....up to 90% more light........!"

 

And, having HIDs on my own ZX, I will place the same bet as to which Dan finds the winner :D

 

However I have just fitted the Phillips (suposedly!!) "....80% brighter....." H7 bulbs in my SLK and I am honestly impressed with the results. Looking at the front of the car, they don't appear much different but out on the road they are noticably better. Not a bad upgrade for the £25 I paid Powerbulbs on their stand at MPH!

 

Richard :smw:

Reading between the lines of Auto Car's testing, I think it is more down to the spread of the beam pattern, simply illuminating more of the road ahead.

 

Beam pattern is dictated by the frosting on the headlight glass and the metal "beam definer" bar inside the projector. That means no matter what bulb you put into the headlight house, the beam pattern will always be the same.

Beam pattern is dictated by the frosting on the headlight glass and the metal "beam definer" bar inside the projector. That means no matter what bulb you put into the headlight house, the beam pattern will always be the same.

 

Fair point, but according to their research, Auto Express have supposedly proved that both Osram and Phillips "+50%" bulbs easily out perform all other manufacturers' efforts (including the expensive PIAA Xtreme white) by some considerable margin. They have recently voted the new Phillips Extreme Power "+80%" bulbs as their product of the year also.

 

Now I'm no scientist and would see no reason to doubt "independent consumer research" however having used various examples of halogen bulbs over the years, I do think that the Osram and Phillips examples mentioned do give better 'on the road' performance than the others I have tried.

 

I also think that any bulb with a blue coating will give a poorer light output, as the blue coating will undoubtedly reduce efficiency - common sence suggests that a light shone through a coloured lense should not be as effective as one shone through a clear lense.

 

All just IMO and all comments in quotes are manufacturers' quotes and not necessarily my belief :D

 

Richard